Menu

…not another overachieving food blog…

serious eats

Yesterday I mentioned that, with a few tweaks of my own, this cookie recipe is about the best basic cookie dough recipe I’ve ever found.

The oatmeal is great because it makes the dough a little chewier without being too…oatmealy, I guess, and I don’t know about you, but unless a cookie contains chocolate, I’m usually not interested (sole exception is a non-chocolate cookie being used as a containment system for ice cream in an ice cream sandwich, top choices being the Lemon/Honey Lavender from Ruby Jewels and the Snickerdoodle/Double Vanilla Bean from Cupcake Royale).

But like I said, I have tweaked the recipe slightly, for reasons of texture and volume. Below is my dough recipe based on this recipe, as well as a few additions you can make noted below:

In another bowl, beat the butter, coconut oil, and sugars until combined. Once these are combined, add the eggs and vanilla and, again, beat until combined. (I know a lot of people use mixers or actual beaters for this, but I just use a sturdy whisk because I’m neither made of money nor do I have a wealthy-but-wrinkled benefactor funding my kitchen appliance dreams).

Combine both bowls until a dough forms. Because of the coconut oil, this dough may seem a little…wet, I guess, and if you like a thinner, crispier cookie, then you can leave it as is. But if you like a thicker, chewier cookie (like I do), then now is the time to combine your set aside quantities of flour, baking soda, and baking powder and add them to the dough, being sure to work it evenly through.

Now add your chocolate chips and any other additions you feel like making.** Make sure they are distributed throughout the dough.

Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper, and using a tablespoon, portion out the dough in round balls. As I noted below (asterisk at the preheating the oven part), I prefer to do this with chilled dough. Also, I find that one baking sheet can handle 12-16 cookies, and there’s enough dough left over for a whole batch that you can either make right away, or portion and freeze for later. The frozen dough can go straight into the oven to bake for 15-18 minutes. Which is awesome because hey, effortless cookies at some point in the future!

Place baking sheet on center rack of the oven and bake for 12-15 minutes. I find that 13-14 minutes is best for a just-golden cookie that cools to a mainly chewy texture and slightly harder bottom. If I’m baking for people with a more discerning palate, sometimes I’ll sprinkle flaky salt on top of the cookies as soon as I take them out of the oven to cool.

* Only preheat your oven if you’re going to bake right away. I mention this because I like to refrigerate my dough for at least an hour before baking, although like half a day is best. It’s easier to shape once it’s chilled and the finished product is more uniform. Once your dough is made, just cover the bowl in plastic wrap and place in the fridge.

** Recent cookies in my kitchen have been Chocolate Chip Pecan Cherry (using chopped pecans and dried cherries in whatever quantities I felt like tasting), Chocolate Chip Earl Grey Cocoa Nib (melt the butter and coconut oil in a saucepan containing two bags of good Earl Grey tea, infuse over low heat for about 5 minutes, and add 3/4 cup cocoa nibs into the dough along with the chocolate chips), White Chocolate Chip Lavender (sub dark chocolate for white, infuse 2 tbs dried lavender in the oil and butter), and Chocolate Chip Orange Espresso (add zest of 1 large orange to wet ingredients and 1 tsp of instant espresso powder to dry ingredients).

…

Obviously my version is open to interpretation, as well, so if you’re interested in learning how different factors affect the taste, texture and appearance of your basic chocolate chip cookie, the Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Guides from Handle the Heat are really helpful, as is this examination by the Food Lab at Serious Eats.